Rabat – Remittances from the Moroccan community abroad exceeded MAD 99.5 billion ($9.5 billion) at the end of the first eleven months of 2022.
According to data from Morocco’s foreign trade watchdog, the Exchange Office (OE), monetary transfers from Moroccans abroad to their families rose by an annual rate of nearly 15%.
The flow of foreign currency from Moroccans abroad has been on a steady increase over the past four years despite a slight dip in 2019, the data revealed, showing that the volume of remittances at the end of November went from MAD 59.8 billion in 2018, to MAD 59.7 billion in 2019.
The volume of remittances transferred back to Morocco peaked between 2020 and 2021, going from MAD 61.2 billion to MAD 86.8 billion despite the COVID-induced global economic downturn.
Remittances are of strategic importance to Morocco; they represent one of the county’s four prime sources of foreign currency next to tourism, exports, and foreign investment.
According to the OE, remittances accounted for 6.5% of Morocco’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020. Converging reports suggest that Morocco ranks second — behind Egypt — among Arab countries in terms of the volume of cash remittances.
Morocco has over five million nationals residing abroad. However, having a large number of skilled workers overseas is putting the country at an economic disadvantage.
Over 600 Moroccan engineers move abroad every year in search of better living conditions, putting the national economy at a great disadvantage. Human capital flight is estimated to have cost the Moroccan economy a cumulative figure of $87.7 billion between 1970 and 2010.
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